The operational office REIT (real estate investment trust) portfolio in the country grew 74% year-on-year to 167 million square feet in H1 2026, from 95.8 million square feet in H1 2025, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
The operational office REIT portfolio represents 16% of India’s 1.05 billion square feet office stock, while the under-construction portfolio is equivalent to a further 19% of the existing operational REIT stock, indicating continued expansion of institutional ownership. Institutionalisation, however, remains uneven across markets.
The sharp increase highlights the growing role of REITs and InvITs as vehicles to monetise, aggregate and recycle capital across real estate and infrastructure-linked assets, said a report by ASSOCHAM-Knight Frank India.
Embassy REIT, Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET) and other REITs have also acquired office assets in the recent past, apart from developing their own properties.
BIRET and Prime Offices Fund signed an agreement in August 2026 to acquire a 264,000 sq ft Grade-A office space in Mumbai’s Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) for an enterprise value of ₹1,700 crore.
Embassy Office Parks REIT said in March that it had acquired a Bengaluru office property for ₹852 crore.
The operational retail REIT portfolio stood at 11 million square feet, while the warehousing InvIT portfolio stood at 44.2 million square feet as of June 2026. Roads and fibre continue to dominate the broader InvIT asset base, while warehousing is emerging as an increasingly important component.
Bengaluru has the highest REIT penetration among the major office markets, with 67.6 million square feet of REIT-backed office stock accounting for 27% of the city’s office inventory. Embassy Office Parks remains the largest REIT platform in the city, while the addition of Bagmane’s portfolio has materially increased listed institutional ownership, the report said.
Hyderabad follows with 26.2 million square feet of REIT-backed stock, covering 20% of its office inventory, supported by Knowledge Realty Trust (KRT) and Mindspace. Mumbai has 24.6 million square feet of REIT stock, equivalent to 14% of its office inventory. NCR and Pune recorded coverage of 11% each, while Chennai and Kolkata had 10% coverage each. Ahmedabad remained at 1%, it added.
Listed office REIT platforms have a combined 36 million square feet of office space under construction. Bengaluru accounts for the largest share at 16.3 million square feet, followed by Mumbai at 4.6 million square feet, Hyderabad at 3.9 million square feet and Chennai at 3.8 million square feet.
Shishir Baijal, international partner, chairman and managing director, Knight Frank India, said, “The expansion of listed REITs has strengthened the exit and capital-recycling mechanism available to institutional real estate investors.”
Stabilised assets can be aggregated into listed portfolios, allowing existing investors to monetise their holdings while widening access to institutional real estate for a broader investor base, Baijal said.
“Institutionalisation is also extending beyond office as the expansion of retail REITs is widening the geographic footprint of institutional real estate ownership beyond the established office markets,” he said.